Game Preview: Stars Look For East-Coast Sweep Against The New Jersey Devils

Well, the trip has been exactly what the doctor ordered for the Stars. So far, they have beaten the Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, and Philadelphia Flyers, and look to complete the four-game sweep when they take on the Devils tonight at the Prudential Center in New Jersey.

The Stars are coming off a defensive 3-1 victory over the flyers last night in Philly. After a few high-scoring affairs, Dallas held the Flyers to only 28 shots and 50 shot attempts in the game. The most important stat, they allowed only one goal after giving up four or more in four of their last five games.

"Yes and no," Bowness said when asked if he liked the game overall. "Giving up one goal was great. We didn't give that many chances up, but I also thought it was a little scrambly at times and some unnecessary time in our zone."

The Stars will look to clamp down on their defensive game even further tonight. This will not be easy, however, as they face a highly-skilled Devils team that loves to get up and down the ice. Rick Bowness knows they prefer to play a more open “track meet” style of hockey that Dallas can not fall into on the second night of a back-to-back. They need to stay structured, forecheck hard, and find a way to limit their turnovers to stay in control of the game.

“They are a good team on the rush,” Bowness said. “They run a lot of skill and a lot of speed. They would like nothing more than to get in a track meet with us out there. It’s back-to-back games for us, so that is not a preferred style of play for us tonight. We want to play good team defense and get good offense from our team D. They are fast, they are rested, and they like to score on the rush. It makes it tough to play them, so we need to be sharp without the puck.”

The man in charge of stopping the high-flying Devils attack will be Braden Holtby, who makes his third start in the last four games. Holtby has played well overall but has seen a few goals go by him that he normally stops over the last few games as well. Tonight, he will look to put on a complete performance, one the Stars have grown accustomed to seeing.

“He feels good,” Bowness said this morning. “We talked to him and I think mentally, he is in the right frame of mind. He’s a pro and he comes to the rink every day. Sometimes, things don’t go your way every night, so it is how you handle it. He is a pro, a strong character guy, good teammate, and he has handled it very well. I would never question his mental side. He knows when the goals go in that he should’ve had and he is the first to admit it, but he doesn’t let it linger, he doesn’t dwell on it. He moves on to the next shot or the next game and that is the approach we need from him tonight.”

Radek Faksa remains out with a non-COVID-related illness tonight. He missed last night’s game but should be ready to go when the Stars return home on Friday. Michael Raffl will miss the next two weeks with a lower-body injury.

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As for the rest of the lineup, Bowness kept it fairly secret this morning. He may decide to roll out Denis Gurianov with Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn or he may keep the chemistry from last night when Riley Damiani stepped into that spot.

No matter the lineup, this is a huge two points on the line for the Stars tonight, who once again, sit just outside the playoff bubble.